Vulnerability in Flagforge
CVE-2026-21868
Flag Forge is a Capture The Flag (CTF) platform. Versions 2.3.2 and below have a Regular Expression Denial of Service (ReDoS) vulnerability in the user profile API endpoint (/api/user/[username]). The application constructs a regular expression dynamically using unescaped user input (the username parameter). An attacker can exploit this by sending a specially crafted username containing regex meta-characters (e.g., deeply nested groups or quantifiers), causing the MongoDB regex engine to consume excessive CPU resources. This can lead to Denial of Service for other users. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.3. To workaround this issue, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests containing regex meta-characters in the URL path.
Vulnerability class: ReDoS (Regular Expression Denial of Service)
EPSS: 0.003 (18.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
Affected products
- Flagforge
- Flagforgectf Flagforge — versions < 2.3.3
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-21868?
- CVE-2026-21868 is a high-severity vulnerability in Flagforge, classified under Inefficient Regular Expression Complexity. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-01-08.
- How severe is CVE-2026-21868?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.